The Art of Work by Jeff Goins – A Review

A calling is a life lived well. Jeff Goins

When given the chance to join Jeff Goin’s launch team for his new book, The Art of Work, I almost hyperventilated with excitement trying to get my info in as soon as possible! The email soon arrived that I was IN. Happy dance. I knew I needed this book, like yesterday.

As you can see, I’ve devoured the book, marking up almost every single page in it. *Oh and our puppy may have had a hand (or mouth) in the wear and tear on my poor book.

Life is too short to do what doesn’t matter, to waste your time on things that don’t amount to much. What we all want is to know our time on earth has meant something. We can distract ourselves with pleasure for only so long before beginning to wonder what the point is… A calling comes when we embrace the pain, not avoid it.

We all want purpose in our lives. What do we do when we feel like we’re floundering to find our way in this world? How do you do work that matters?

What would you do if you could do anything?

Answer that question. I bet you know deep in your gut what that “thing” is and you already know if you’re doing it or not.

What happens if you don’t do this?

Will you get to the end of your life and think, “Oh well. No biggie?” or will you get to the last breaths of life with regrets for not having chased your dreams?

Finding your calling will not happen without the aid and assistance of others. Every story of success is, in fact, a story of community.

How do you find your calling if you’re unsure of what “it” is? Community plays a huge role here. What would others encourage you to go after? Think of skills you have that seem to come naturally to you. Explore those.

Your journey, though unique, is full of fellow sojourners, as well as teachers who will help along the way. Your job is not to find them but to recognize them when they appear.

Don’t go this alone, my friend! You don’t need to and life is better in community. Who would push you along and be your cheer squad during the game? Go to them for advice. Thank them for how they encourage you – encouragers need encouragement too. Don’t overlook being grateful and thanking those important people in your life on a regular basis.

For the longest time, i believed a little lie about people who were fulfilling their purpose, and it prevented me from finding my own calling. What was it? One simple phrase: you just know. When we find someone doing what they love for a living, we tell ourselves a story. It’s a nice piece of fiction, a familiar fairy tale, and a downright lie… Because we’d rather believe the fairy tale that says some people are just special. That way we don’t have any responsibility to act… They myth goes like this: Your calling, if it comes at all, is something that arrives one day on your doorstep in a neatly wrapped package. You don’t have to worry about exerting any effort or anything; it will just work out.

Oh, I’ll admit to buying that lie. This chapter spoke right into my soul. We see the outcome for some people as they shine up the end result to years of hard work. You can’t watch the end of a movie and fully understand the whole story. There is always back story (or there should be with any story worth its weight) that required work, effort, and grit. If you’re not willing to dig in and get dirty, you’re not likely to be successful. Landing in the space of your true calling requires real life, hard work.

Commitment is costly; it should scare us.

Does your calling come with a cost? Does it elicit knee knocking shakes? Good. Perhaps it means you’re on to something important.

It may, in fact, cause you more pain than comfort, but it will be worth the cost.

It’s so easy to believe that if it is our true calling it will then come easy to us. Let’s throw that lie into the fire pit and embrace the fact that we’re going to face difficulty. Someone may resist your dream. It may take years to get there. But won’t it be worth it in the end? Isn’t it worth knowing you won’t have regrets when you face death’s knock? Can you live with the nag of not knowing what could have been?

I can’t. I don’t want to. If I fail, at least I tried. At least I tried.

Tell me about your dreams? Have you figured out your calling? What causes you to be a fence sitter, instead of jumping in and getting started?

Find out more about Jeff Goins and his new book, The Art of Work. It’s worth it. Your book will look like mine when you’re done, maybe worse. Just don’t let your dog try to eat it. You’ve got to admit that she is pretty cute though…

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